Collapsible compartmented box

ABSTRACT

A collapsible compartmented box made from a single blank of material has an aligned series of panels forming the front, rear and side walls of the box and a central dividing wall extending the full length of the box with a plurality of contiguous transverse walls separating the box into compartments on each side of the dividing wall.

United States Patent [191 Hackenberg Nov. 5, 1974 [5 COLLAPSIBLE COMPARTMENTED BOX 2,965,278 l2/l960 Phillips 229/28 BC [75] Inventor: Robert A. Hacknberg East Lyme, 3,760,978 9/]973 Stone 229/52 BC Conn. Primary Examiner-George E. Lowrance [73] Asslgneez Robertson Paper Box Co., Inc., Assistant Examiner stephen Garbe Montvlllev Conn- Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Cesari and McKenna [22] Filed: Jan. 29, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 327,652. [57] ABSTRACT A collapsible compartmented box made from a single CL 229/28 R, 229/29 D, 229/4l B blank of material has an aligned series of panels form- [5 ing the front rear and Side walls of the box a en. Field of Search 229/28 t 41 28 BC, tral dividing wall extending the full length of the box 229/29 R, 29 B, 29 C, 29 D, 52 BC, 15 with a plurality of contiguous transverse walls separating the box into compartments on each side of the di- [56] References Cited viding wall.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,660,361 11 1953 Tyrseck 229/28 R 3 7 Drawmg F'gures 1 COLLAPSIBLE COMPARTMENTED BOX Background of the Invention This invention relates to a cardboard box. It relates more particularly to a box which is capable of containing a number of fragile articles such as glass vials or ampules.

The manufacturers of drugs and medicines require relatively sturdy containers for the products which they ship to hospitals and various retailers. In many cases, the drugs and medicines are hermetically sealed in very fragile ampules which are designed to fit into a hypodermic syringe sothatthe drug or medicine can be injected directly from the ampule into a patient. Accordingly, it is a prime requisite for anysatisfactory container for such articles that the container effectively isolate the articles within it from each other so that when the box is roughly handled during shipment, the articles do not contact one another. If they do, there is a strong likelihood that the ampules will crack or break.

Also, it is highly desirable for economic reasons that a compartmented box of thistype be constructed from a single blank of material with a minimum number of cutting, scoring and folding operations. Further, the box should be of the knock-down variety so that it can be shipped from the box manufacturer to the user in a flattened condition to save shipping and storing costs.

' rial. At first glance, this prior box seems quite similar to applicant's present box construction. However, that prior patented box hasa serious disadvantage which militates against its use as a container for fragile glass ampules and vials..Basically, that prior box hastwo rows of compartments. The compartment rows are separated by a very low dividing wall which extends along the lateral center-line of the box. If a box of that type were used to hold the long, thin glass ampules with which we are concerned here, the ampules on opposite sides of the low dividing wall would be free to cock and contact one another with a very good likelihood of breakage.

Also. that prior patented box is not as strong and sturdy as it might be in order to adequately protect the ampules. Consequently, during rough handling, the box may be crushed with consequent damage to the contents. Finally, the prior box requires more manufacturing operations than the present one so that it is somewhat more expensive to manufacture. While the cost differential may be low, considering the huge quantities of boxes that are manufactured, the total cost savings becomes significant.

Summary of the Invention Accordingly, the present invention aims to provide a compartmented box which is particularly suited for holding tall, thin, fragile articles such as glass ampules.

A further object of the invention is to provide a compartmented box which isolates the articles in the separate compartments from one another.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a compartmented box which is constructed from a single blank of material and which can be constructed with a minimum number of manufacturing steps.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a compartmented box having two rows of compartments which are separated by a dividing wall which extends the full height of the box.

A further object of the invention is to provide a compartmented box of the above type which can be collapsed to a flat condition and which is constructed from a single blank of material.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cardboard blank for making a compartmented box having one or more of the above characterisitics.

Other objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter. v

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

The present compartmented box is constructed from a single blank of material such as cardboard. The blank has six panels extending along the horizontal center line of the blank. These six panels form the front, rear and side walls of the box. as well as a lateral central dividing wall within the box. A pair of panels hinged to the front wall of the box and the dividing wall are slit and folded to form five transverse dividing walls which are perpendicular to and arranged on each side of the central dividing wall, thereby creating six compartments on each side of the central wall.

When the box is erected, the dividing wall extends the full height of the box and thus completely isolates the glass ampules in the compartments on each side of the dividing wall from one another..

The blank also includes the usual cover panels hinged to the top and bottom edges of the rear and side wall panels which can be folded in on one another to close the top and bottom of the box.

The box can be shipped in a flat condition and be erected simply by applying pressure to its edges. This forces the collapsed box to assume a generally open rectangular shape which is maintained when the bottom cover flaps'are locked in place.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the blank from which the FIG. 1 carton is made; and

FIGS. 5 to 7 are similar views showing how the blank is folded to form the finished box.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFFERRED 1 EMBODIMENT Turning now to FIG. 1 of the drawing, the box has a generally rectangular front wall 10, a similar rear wall 12, and continguous rectangular end walls 14 and 16. The usual auxiliary cover flaps l8 and 22 are hinged to the top edges of the end walls 14 and 16, respectively. Also. a main cover flap 24 is hinged at the top edge of rear wall 12. Cover flap 24 has a hinged tab 240 which can be folded down inside the box to lock the cover flap in place. An identical set of auxiliary and main cover flaps 18, 22 and 24 are provided to form the bottom of the box.

As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the box has six compartments on each side of a centrally located lateral dividing wall shown generally at 26 for containing tall, thin fragile glass ampules, two of which are shown in dotted lines at 32. As seen from the drawing figure, the ampules 32 on each side of the dividing wall are completely isolated so that there is no possibility for them to interleave or even contact one another.

Turning now to FIG. 4, the box is constructed from a single cardboard blank. The panels in the blank are given the same identifying numerals as the corresponding components of the box shown in FIG. 1. Panels 10, l2, l4 and 16 are all arranged in a line and are connected to one another along fold lines 38. The panels forming the auxiliary cover flaps 18 are hinged along fold lines 42 to the top and bottom edges of end wall panel 14, while the auxiliary cover flap panels 22 are hinged along fold lines 44 to the edges of panel 16. Finally, the main cover panels 24 are hinged along fold lines 52 to the top and bottom edges of the rear wall panel 12.

The dividing wall 26 is comprised ofa relatively narrow panel 54 which is hinged along a fold line 56 to the free side edge of panel 12. Panel 54 is approximately half as wide as panels 14 and 16. The dividing wall also includes a panel 58 which is approximately the same length as panels and 12. One side edge of this panel 58 is connected along a fold line 62 to panel 54, while the other side edge of panel 58 is hinged along fold line 64 to a glue tab 66.

The transverse dividing walls 28 shown in FIG. I are formed from a pair of identical panels 72 and 74 hinged along fold lines 71 and 73 to the top edges of panels 10 and 58. respectively. Each panel 72 and 74 has a series of parallel diagonal cuts 76 centered on the horizontal center line ofthe panel. The diagonal cuts are contiguous with a corresponding series of vertical cuts 78 which in turn. connect to a corresponding series of horizontal cuts 82. A series of vertical score lines 84 are formed in panels 72 and 74 with each score line 84 extending from the end of a cut 82 to the lower end of an adjacent diagonal cut 76. The partial fold lines at the ends of each panel taken together form a complete score line as defined above. These cuts and fold lines divide the panels 72 and 74 into an inner marginal portion 86 and an outer marginal portion 88. both of which extend parallel to the fold line 71 (or 73). In between are a horizontal series (herein five) of diagonal strips which constitute the transverse dividing walls 28 in FIG. I. In the completed box, the inner marginal portions 86 lie flush against the panel 10 and one side of panel 58, respectively, while the outer marginal por- LII tions 88 lie flush against the other side of panel 58 and panel 12, respectively.

To form the box from the blank shown in FIG. 4, glue is applied to the inner marginal portions 86 as indicated by the stippling. Then the panels 72 and 74 are folded along their hinge lines 71 and 73 as shown in FIG. 5 so that they lie flat against panels 10 and 58, respectively, with the portions 86 becoming adhered to those panels. Next. glue is applied to end panel 16 and tab 66 as shown by the stippling and to the now exposed sides of the outer marginal portions 88 of panels 72 and 74. Following this. the panels to the right of fold line 56, i.e., panels 54 and 58. are folded flat against panels 12 and 14 as seen in FIG. 6 so that the right-hand marginal portion 88 becomes adhered to panel 12, while the flap 66 is adhered to panel 14. Finally, turning to FIG. 7, the panel 10 is folded along fold line 38 so that panels 10 and 16 lie flush against panels 54 and 58, with the result that the left-hand outer marginal portion 88 becomes adhered to panel 58, while the end panel 16 is adhered to panel 54. The box is now in its collapsed condition ready for shipment to the ultimate user.

The collapsed carton shown in FIG. 7 is erected to the form shown in FIG. 1 simply by pressing against the corners of the collapsed carton. This causes the carton to assume its generally rectangular shape whereupon the top and bottom cover panels can be folded down in the usual way to close the carton. When the box is erected, the horizontal distance between the dividing walls 28 is exactly one half the front-to-back distance of the box. Also, the wall panels and panels forming the dividing wall are all arranged generally in a spiral or a coil.

It will be seen from the drawing figures, then, that the present compartmented box provides a central dividing wall which extends the full height of the box and completely isolates the six compartments at the front of the box from the six at the rear. Consequently, there is no likelihood of the vials or ampules in the compartments on opposite sides of the wall becoming interleaved or jumbled together. Even if the box is shaken rather violently, the vials on opposite sides of the central dividing walls cannot smash against one another.

Also the fact that the box is constructed from a single cardboard blank and requires only two gluing and three folding operations to form the finished article means that the cost to the manufacturer is relatively low. There are, of course, additional cost savings because the boxes can be shipped and stored in the completely collapsed condition shown in FIG. 7. Therefore, they occupy a minimum amount of space.

While we have shown a box having six compartments on each side of the dividing wall, it should be understood that any number of compartments can be formed simply by enlarging the various panels and increasing the number of diagonal cuts in the panels 72 and 74.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described.

I claim: 1. A blank for forming a collapsible compartmented box comprising A. an aligned series of four contiguous panels for forming the front, rear and side walls of the box, B. two additional panels aligned with the series of panels, the width of one additional panel being approximately one-half the width of the panels forming the side walls of the box, the other additional panel being substantially as long as the panels forming the front and rear walls of the box, and C. a pair of identical divider panels hinged to corresponding long edges of the second additional panel and one of the panels for forming the front and rear walls of the box, each divider panel having a plurality of diagonal cuts centered on its longitudinal axis. 2. The blank defined in claim 1 and further including a cover flap panel hinged to a long edge of one of the front and rear wall panels.

3. A collapsible compartmented box formed from a single blank of material comprising A. front, rear and side walls connected together to form a generally rectangular enclosure,

B. a lateral central dividing wall separating the box into front and rear compartments, said dividing wall extending the full height of the box, the front, rear and side and dividing walls being arranged in a spiral, and

C. a series of contiguous transverse dividing walls exoff the top and bottom of the box. 

1. A blank for forming a collapsible compartmented box comprising A. an aligned series of four contiguous panels for forming the front, rear and side walls of the box, B. two additional panels aligned with the series of panels, the width of one additional panel being approximately one-half the width of the panels forming the side walls of the box, the other additional panel being substantially as long as the panels forming the front and rear walls of the box, and C. a pair of identical divider panels hinged to corresponding long edges of the second additional panel and one of the panels for forming the front and rear walls of the box, each divider panel having a plurality of diagonal cuts centered on its longitudinal axis.
 2. The blank defined in claim 1 and further including a cover flap panel hinged to a long edge of one of the front and rear wall panels.
 3. A collapsible compartmented box formed from a single blank of material comprising A. front, rear and side walls connected together to form a generally rectangular enclosure, B. a lateral central dividing wall separating the box into front and rear compartments, said dividing wall extending the full height of the box, the front, rear and side and dividing walls being arranged in a spiral, and C. a series of contiguous transverse dividing walls extending between the front and rear walls of the box and the central dividing wall so as to form a plurality of generally rectangular compartments within the box on each side of the dividing wall, all of said transverse dividing walls extending diagonally within the box and one end of each of the transverse dividing walls on one side of the central dividing wall being adhered to the central dividing wall, aNd cover flaps hinged to the wall panels for closing off the top and bottom of the box. 